Crosley Alexander Green was born in 1957 in Florida. At the age of 19, following the tragic death of his parents in a murder-suicide, he assumed the role of caretaker for his younger siblings, becoming a father figure within his family. 

In the years leading up to 1989, Green faced legal troubles, including a conviction for robbery, for which he served time at Madison Correctional Institution. Upon his release, he returned to his community in Brevard County, Florida, where he was known as a minor drug dealer.

On April 4, 1989, 22-year-old Charles "Chip" Flynn was fatally shot in a citrus grove in Brevard County, Florida. His ex-girlfriend, Kim Hallock, claimed that an African-American man abducted them at gunpoint, forced them to drive to the grove, and shot Flynn. Hallock identified Crosley Green as the assailant.

Green was arrested on June 8, 1989, and charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, and robbery. Despite the lack of physical evidence linking him to the crime scene, an all-white jury convicted him on September 5, 1990, and he was sentenced to death.

Over the years, Green's legal team uncovered evidence suggesting prosecutorial misconduct, including the withholding of exculpatory evidence. In 2018, a federal judge vacated his conviction, citing these issues, and ordered a new trial. Green was released on house arrest in 2021 while awaiting the state's decision on a retrial.

However, in March 2022, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated Green's conviction, ruling that the withheld evidence would not have changed the trial's outcome. Consequently, in April 2023, Green was ordered back to prison to serve his life sentence .